Unpretentious movie reviews you can read in less than 10 minutes

There’s nothing new to see here, but solid performances, good direction, and well executed action scenes make it a decent reboot.

The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero. — (C) Sony

It’s a character driven reboot of the Spiderman movie back in 2002. Here we see Peter Parker as a conflicted yet likeable high school student with parental issues (like all other superheroes). His transition from outsider to superhero is much more grounded. Unlike Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield’s version has more character development.

The cast delivers solid performances all throughout. The story arc is darker but more emotionally engaging. This adds depth to the film and as a result, it doesn’t entirely feel like another cash grab. When the action starts rolling, there are characters that you can root for.

The action scenes are handled well. In CGI, everything can get blurry and confusing when characters rage in front of the screen. It’s always tempting to use digital technology to create physics and gravity defying action. But the characters tend to turn into a cartoon that just reminds audiences that they’re in a big budgeted movie. Fortunately, Marc Webb takes a different route. Spiderman does a handful of stunts and even when there’s CGI involved, his actions are clear. As a result audiences can relate to Parker’s cuts and bruises.

When the fighting scenes finally end and the big bad is defeated, viewers who expect something new may be a bit disappointed. It’s basically the same story with a different villain, lead actor, and leading lady.

Nonetheless, it is a good reboot since it has considerably more substance that the previous Spiderman film. If this had been shown instead of the one in 2002, I daresay the franchise would have headed in a better direction.